KH: Tales of the Twilight: Rebirth
by RDSkye
Summary: A remake of the original, currently in progress... no new chapters yet... Namine writes a story to the future, a tale of incredible bravery and strength, with new and old characters, love, pain, and how Two Lineages can make all the difference.
1. Dive to the Heart

**Chapter 1: Dive to the Heart**

((A/N: The music in this chapter starts out with Walk on Water by Milk Inc. Also, underlined and italics is the "outside voice," while italics is what's in his own head. Oh, and this is rated Teen for some bad language.))

A boy stands on the edge of the dock on Destiny Islands. He has yellow brown hair, which seems to be in conflict over whether to be like Sora's hairdo or Roxas', and he holds a wooden sword in his left hand.

Unexpectedly, he whirls, and the scene dissolves into him facing another boy, this one with Brown-Black hair. The two boys are on the small island which Riku and Sora fought in Kingdom Hearts 1.

The boys charge at each other, wooden blades in hand. They parry, weave, and slash, but each time the other's stick is there, blocking their strike. It is an even match, until the original boy twists his blade out from under the others strike, driving the other on the defensive. Finally, he lands a hard smack to the Brown-Black haired boys' ribs. He jumps back and curls up into a handspring. The first boy sees his danger to late, and the other boys feet slam into his chest. The first boy is sent off the island, into the water below.

When he hits however, the scene changes again. He is standing in front of a gigantic door. He takes a step back and turns around, as if to run, but something stops him into his tracks. A girl with black hair, one he knows, is reaching out to him, a smile on her face. He takes her hand with wonder, and she changes into a blond haired girl in a white dress, and then an auburn haired girl in a pink dress. Finally, the auburn haired girl splits into three girls clothed in brilliant white, all surrounding him.

Afraid, he pushes away from them and runs straight into a Darkside heartless emerging from the door. He turns and runs in the opposite direction; the exact one in which the girls once stood, but are there no longer. As he runs, the ground begins to break up beneath him until it shatters, and he plunges into darkness.

He reappears on a round structure, one which seems to be made of stained glass. There are strange figures on it. One was a boy with a key, another was the auburn haired girl he saw before, along with the blond-haired girl, walking through a portal of light. He didn't focus on what it meant however. He just wanted out of this demented dream world.

In front of him were three pedestals. On top of them were a Shield, a Sword, and a Staff, beautiful in make but terrible as well._You have a choice_ a voice said in his head, _Will you choose the power to protect your friends?_ A light shone on the shield. _Or the power to destroy your enemies?_ A light now shone on the Sword's pedestal. _Or perhaps you want unending wisdom?_A light shone on the Staff's pedestal. _Choose._The voice commanded, fading away. _Choose_. The boy closed his eyes for a moment, and made his choice. The other two pedestals disappeared, along with the item he was holding.

In its place was a enormous Key. Its hilt was gold, and he automatically had the thought in his mind, Keyblade He turned to face the pink door that had now appeared in the center, as it creaked open and light seeped through.

_Keyblade…_

_-------_

Pat stepped through the other side of the door... And nearly fell off the narrow staircase on the other side. "Whoa!" He exclaimed, barely catching himself. He looked down, and saw the spiral descending staircase went down so far that it was lost in darkness.

He looked at the brilliant path, which seemed to be made of more stained glass, and noticed several black things coming towards him. They may have looked small and cute, but evil oozed out of them like a foul stench, and his spine bristled...

_Those without hearts... Heartless._

That voice was really beginning to annoy him. He raised his weapon and began to run at them, full speed. He wasn't strong enough to kill them with a single blow, but his awkward-but-heavy key batted them off into the darkness. He ran and ran down the staircase which went down and down in it's spiral path. After-minutes? hours? days?- he stopped to catch his breath, and noticed a shape off in the black. It was a brown haired boy, just floating in midair, with the same weapon Pat now held. Add to that he had three crown shaped cards in his other hand. He turned and grinned at Pat who smiled weakly back. Then the brunette's card-hand snapped, and three cards embedded themselves in Pat's torso. They didn't hurt, but they did make him stumble backwards. He couldn't catch himself, and fell over the edge, down into blackness.

----------

As he fell, he saw strange things on the stairs. He saw a Dog, a Duck, and the Brunette from before chasing after a mouse in black and a boy with silver hair in yellow and blue, but the real interesting hallucinations came from the dark outside.

He saw the silver haired boy as a giant figure, but in front his faded form were two of his freinds.

He saw the Auburn Haired girl standing in the distance, but in front of her were the three grils he had seen before.

He saw Himself standing in front of the brunette boy he had seen before, but then they disappeared into a boy with spiky blond hair, staring off into the distance.

_Roxas..._

--------

Pat awoke with every bone in his body groaning, but he was still alive, and the cards had done no harm that he could see. In fact, after the initial wave of soreness, he felt the best ever.

... Until he took in his surroundings.

_Oh Freakin' Hell._ He thought as he stared up at the Darkside above him. The very **Peculiar** Darkside without a hole in it's chest. Instead, there was a white thing, which he instantly found a name tag for as a Twilight Thorn, curled in a revolving ball.

_Not my day!_ Pat thought, jumping to avoid a gigantic black hand. He struck out with the Keyblade and severed the offending appendage, nearly dancing with joy as it came off in one clean stroke... and the grew **BACK!!!**

_Fu-_His thoughts were cut off as lightning struck him from the Twilight Thorn Orb ((A/N: Now called TTO for short, and the Darkside is DS))

He whirled his Keyblade in a rapid defense his master, Auron, had shown him once for dispelling non-physical attacks. He whirled backwards... And fell off the sphereical platform they were on.

He began his slow descent into the black.

------

Pat closed his eyes as he began his descent. It would be so easy to let go of the light and let the darkness take him. He felt his conscious self slipping away, and made his choice.

With new energy, he brought his Keyblade around with both hands and sunk it deep into the side of the Circular Tower. His arms felt as though they would be ripped out of his sockets but they held firm, and the Key locked in place. He cursed his stupidity when he realised he had no real way to get back up, and that he would eventually drop, leaving his weapong behind, when he looked up.

The strange DS stared back.

Pat let go as a reflex, beginning to fall back down, when the monster plunged over the gap as well. Being bigger, it fell faster, and narrowly missed hitting him.

And then gravity got all screwy as the side of the tower became the GROUND!

Pat rolled with his arrested fall, but in the end he still was battered and bruised.

As he got up, he realised his Keyblade had fallen and well... to be between him and the monster which had regained its feet. It raised one hand, and lightning streamed out. Pat rolled to the side, and was almost overwhelmed by the air pressure which preceded the lighning, which nipped at his heels but missed.

Before the DS could launch another attack, he ran foward and grabbed his Keyblade. As he did so, the DS morphed into a black substance floating around the released Twilight Thorn (TT). It shot more electricity at him, and Pat parried, jumped, dodged, and wove around the obstacles.

Not only that, but he had to stop to engage little creatures along the way. He was tired and hurt, but was slowly making his way towards the strange creature. When he got within 20 feet of it, the TT did a somersault in midair, and its huge hands smacked the Tower, spinning it rapidly.

Pat planted his Keyblade in the Tower's side, and found himself hanging by it coming aound the other. As he reached the other side he let go, and was flung above the battle field, the TT and Tower (still spinning) below.

He called his Keyblade to his hand out of pure determination, and as he fell, flung it at the head of the TT.

It stuck there, and a white light filled his eyes.

Gratefully, Pat passed out.


	2. Twilight Dive:ReverseRebirth

**Chapter 2: Twilight Dive: Reverse/Rebirth**

((A/N: Never mind, no song until the fight scene, and then it would be _**Move**_, by _Thousand Foot Crutch_.))

Death by Light...

Reign of Night...

AND THE HEARTS WILL RULE THEM ALL!!**  
**

Ben awoke from the strange dream he was having with a start.

His friends had been there, in the dream, that is, laughing, and talking. But when he ran up to them they disappeared, as if they were nothing but ghosts. When he ran away, to the next person, the one who had just disappeared would reappear, as if by magic.

When he had asked them why he couldn't touch them or talk to them, they had answered mockingly: "We are better than you! We do not fear the darkness!" With that, strange black creatures had sprung from within them. They had tortured him and entered him to choke his windpipe and burn his eyes.

The pain had been so real, he had woke up.

Or had he?

_Awake... Or not Awake..._

_...Does it matter?_

Voices in his head... he frowned, puzzled.

_...Dive into the depths..._

More confused, he asked to the bare plain before him, with the huge blue heart in the sky, "The depths of what?" A man in a black cloak appeared about 20 feet in front of him. He didn't speak. Not aloud anyway. He just pointed at Ben, as the voice filled his mind again.  
_  
_  
_...Those without Hearts have awakened...  
_

_...Memories are being shattered and rearranged...  
_

_...Can you face the darkness in you heart?_

"There is no darkness in my heart!" He shouted with rage, he felt something in his hand like a sword hilt. A weapon? He didn't look before he had crossed the 20 feet with a quick sprint and used his hand held "weapon" against the man in black.

He tumbled through empty air, and the voice chuckled mockingly at him. The man of air turned around.

_...Just because you can't see it in your self doesn't mean it isn't there..._

_...Or maybe you deny what is as plain as what is in your hand?_

_"Shut up!" Ben cried, even as he saw what was in his right hand. A large blade of pure black, with three strange prongs coming out as if it were a gigantic key. ((A/N: The symbols jutting from the end are miniature heartless signs. I hope to someday draw my Keyblades and put them on deviant art while supplying a link, but until then I'll have to use descriptions. XD)) The Hilt guard was a white with black lightning stripes running over it. "No!" Ben cried out, trying to drop the blade, which seemed to have been super glued to his hand. As this happened, a second key appeared in his left hand. This one white with the Nobody symbol in place of the Heartless symbols on it. The hilt was Black with White lightning stripes, a negative of its brother Key. The man in black pointed first to the Heartless Keyblade._

___Heart Stealer_

_Then he pointed to the Nobody Blade._

___Shadow's Soul_

_Ben drew his Keyblades back, and threw them at the apparition. Where they struck it, clouds of darkness billowed forth. Soon the entire man was engulfed. They came back at his call, just in time as a monstrous horde of heartless appeared in a flash around him._

_He ran forward with determination and the power of darkness flooding his veins. He slashed, kicked, and tore his way through the Neo-Shadows, using a variety of moves such as Dark Aura and Strike Raid._

_He didn't know where this power came from, but he **liked** it._

_--_

_"He is very good..." The taller of the two men said. Both were dressed in organization cloaks, and were watching Ben's fight against the Darkness from inside a gloomy looking room. __Auron taught him and the others well, _The shorter thought-sent, _He tries to use the darkness, though he lacks the strength._ The taller chuckled, "You do not need to thought-send. That vow was done the moment the darkness took them." The smaller responded coldly_, So you remind me..._ The taller sighed and looked back at the orb. Ben was almost done with the heartless.

_"That was quick... I believe it's time we showed our hand. For real..." The smaller took his cue and left the room. The Heartless took a good look at the orb, and laughed maniacally to himself. "What matters if my plan fails, for now I have not one, but two bodies to choose from. And this one may even be a match for you... Riku." At that he looked over his shoulder where Riku had left._

_--_

_Ben was tearing through the darkness with waves of force. This power was amazing!_

_He flipped his Keyblades into a Assassin like position and flung them in a Dual Strike Raid, cutting large swaths through the darkness._

_And then the world seemed to slow._

_His Keyblades moved, but only a fraction of the speed they were normally at. Heartless were slowly falling towards him, claws outstretched. A white light filled the area, obscuring his vision._

_When it cleared, purple cracks could be seen sprouting where his two key's hung in midair. Imbedded in an invisible wall._

_Ben ran up to the wall and put his hand on it. It seemed only cloth, like a misty veil, which he parted._

_Beyond was a setting of almost the exact same as the one behind him, except that the heartless here moved normal speed, and the boy wielding the Halberd was definitely not him._

_The strange boy wore a black and red organization cloak, with the hood up, obscuring his face. His Halberd was almost like a Keyblade, but not quite. He performed various twists and turns to demolish all of the enemy heartless. When they were all destroyed, he looked up towards Ben._

_He seemed startled, but cautiously walked up to him nonetheless._

_Ben stuck his hand out to shake, "Ben."_

_The other took it, "Jason."_

_With that, he disapeared, and Ben found himself on the original field again, with no heartless. His Keys were in his hands._

_Was it all just a dream while he demolished the rest of the heartless? A halucination induced by the strange power?_

_Then, when he thought he was confused enough, a new player stepped onto the field._

_--_

_Riku used the darkness to portal himself to the field where the Chasers had fought there battles a long time ago; Just yesterday on some worlds. Tomorrow on the new ones, and far in the past for others still._

___Sora..._

___The worst thing you ever did was seal the world borders a thousand years ago. It proves you were weak. I'm not gone for even five years and already you screw up the universe. And the horrible thing is... I DON"T EVEN REMEMBER ANY OF IT!!_

_It was true... The last thing he remembered was stepping through the door. When he had re-awoken, Mesna had told him how he had been forgotten by Sora, who had gone off with Kairi and they had gotten married while Riku had saved the universe from the imbalance of light and dark. Then he had sacrificed himself to save the balance by giving the darkness more power._

_Sora, five years later, had sacrificed himself to the light, upsetting the balance once more, but not before he had won Kairi's heart and they had had some children._

_It grossed him out just thinking about it._

_Riku got out of his thoughts and raised Soul Eater to block Ben's attack. He rolled and came up with a side slash which batted the boy away. Ben brushed himself off and recovered quickly and came at him again, and, yet again, Ben was batted away. Finally, after almost 20 minutes of this continuous loop Ben got in a lucky blow and sent Riku reeling. Taking advantage, Ben dealt a good combo to Riku's side. Riku rolled and came up like before, but this time he was over Ben. Ben saw Soul Eater lancing down over his guard and saw no more._


	3. Destiny Islands

Chapter 3: Destiny Islands Chapter 3: Destiny Islands

"Pat!" Pat heard someone calling his name, but it was as if it was from somewhere far away, almost as if he was underwater or something.

**"PAT!" **Okay, that was closer, and the voice was so familiar...

**"PAAAAAAT!!"**At that**,** he was kicked in the side.

"OW!" Pat shouted, jumping out of his sleeping position. He looked up at the person standing over him, and immediately wished he hadn't. The sun blinded his tired eyes.

He held his side, where it still stung from her blow. "Rain," He said getting up, "What was that for? You've taken lifeguard safety, don't you know you're supposed to give mouth to mouth if someone's unconscious?"

"That's only if your not breathing, dimwit!" Rain retorted angrily," And I checked your pulse and your breathing. You were fine!"

"Aw, Rain," Pat teased, having fun torturing her," I didn't know you cared so much!"

She walked up and slapped him. "Stop playing around!" She yelled, infuriated, though her face was beat red, "If you hadn't been ASLEEP, you would have noticed that the territory lines had been redrawn."

"I take it we're now in enemy territory," Pat said nonchalantly, rubbing his stinging cheek.

"Well no shit sherlock!" Rain screamed at him, exasperated, "I've had to fight 3 people to reach you including Kard!"

Now he saw why she was so upset. Kard was her best friend, who also liked to chase after him in her spare time. If someone called her open with her feelings, they would be under exaggerating.

Kard wasn't one of them, but the way she acted she could be. Her friendship with Rain had always seemed strange to Pat and Ben, the other two in the trio of Auron's students, but neither said much about it.

It was hard playing Territories when some of your friends were on the other side. You could hurt them, or worse, make them lose to you.

Auron's disciples were never all on the same team any more. It had been decided early on that the three best fighters should be split up in Territories, to give each side a chance. The games were played on the ruined islands off the coast, and it passed the summer by very quickly.

As each game took a week to play, that was hardly surprising.

Each team comprised of 40 kids, from ages 12 to 18. 20 boys and 20 girls.

The girls mostly stayed back, and used their medical skills to help anyone wounded. They had jump-ropes which they used as whips if it ever came to a last-ditch stand.

The boys (and Rain) used their short wooden swords to beat the enemy's guard down so they could tag them with a bright green sticky ribbon. When you were tagged, you went to the enemy's jail until someone got close enough and tagged you from your side. Then you had to get out of enemy territory without getting tagged.

The problem was that on the islands, each team had limited amounts of food, and there was no sharing. If you had almost all the people on the other side and did not have enough food. You could forfeit do to hunger, so each time you tagged someone, there was a strain on recourses.

This game they had gotten the haunted island. Ghosts were supposed inhabit it and once an entire game was cancel do to these "shadows" which were supposedly causing kids to disappear. Of course it turned out to be nothing, and people just concluded that the boys had been washed away in the storm.

Coincidentally, Auron disappeared that night as well. Pat wasn't fond of coincidence.

Auron had arrived when the prodigal three were five years old. He had taken them out of the orphanage and out of school and become their mentor in fighting, arts, literature, chores, and all the other things children needed. He was kind to them... sort of at least, but when they were twelve, he had disappeared. No one knew where he went, or what would happen to them. In the end, three pairs of parents decided to adopt them, and they had been reintegrated into the world of childhood.

Pat followed Rain out towards base, thinking as he went, though not so much that he was discovered by the roaming enemy.

--

A long time ago above Traverse Town...

A girl in a gummi ship looked down at her home. The heartless had become a consuming scourge on the face of her beloved town, and the three strange ones had told her to get far away in their ship. Her small friend helped her at the controls.

Shady the Heartless was not like most. He didn't want her heart. He just wanted his own back, but until then, he would have to stick with this girl. The one they were following...

Leah spun the ship around with some experimentation, and blasted off into the deepest reaches of space.

The silent purple destroyer gummi turned and rocketed after her.

--

Pat woke with a start for the second time today. He had been ordered to take a rest by his commander, but he had only slept a few hours, judging by the sunset.

Both armies called for a truce that night to tend to the wounded, so Pat walked untroubled out to the mini island on their side of the island.

The ancient boards creaked under his feet, and he walked with his head down, pondering The Dream, Rain, and The Dream yet again.

He started as he heard a yell, and he quickly looked up at the island. Metal rang on metal as two boys with special looking blades fought it out. Metal was forbidden on the island by rules of the game, so everyone was allowed to gang up on these two.

One had brown hair, with blue eyes and a metal blade in the shape of a large Key.

The other had silver hair, and held this wicked looking crest blade. He looked to be the stronger of the two.

Pat ran forward, drawing his wooden blade. It wouldn't do much against these two metal fighters, but it would command more authority than fists. "Stop!" He called as he drew close.

Both hit each other as he called it, and flipped around. That was when Pat noticed their feet weren't touching the ground and their outlines were blurry.

"Who you talking to Pat?" A voice asked from behind him. Pat whipped around, but nobody was there.

"Put that little stick down, Pat, and you won't get hurt." The voice now emanated from the spot where the two boys had been fighting. Pat turned to track it, and found Ben holding the weird blade that the silver haired boy had had. Both boys were gone, but in the place of the brunette, the Key shaped blade hovered in the air.

"Ben..." Pat said with resoluteness, "What is this all about?"

Ben just smiled and hefted the blade. His face suddenly darkened as he rushed forward shouting, "Admit it Pat! You think I'm weak!"

Pat jumped over the slashing blade, coming up behind Ben while grabbing the only effective weapon in sight; the other blade.

Besides for it's unique weight, the blade felt like a natural part of his arm. He spun, twisted, and countered with every move he knew. He wouldn't attack until he found out why Ben was attacking him. They were FRIENDS. They were the prize students of Auron. And here they were, trying to kill each other with all of his teachings.

Sweat dripped down their bodies as they engaged again and again. Finally, their hilts locked, and Pat was able to speak again.

"Ben! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Pat asked as Ben pushed him away.

"Exactly what I should have done a long time ago." With that, Ben launched himself at Pat again headfirst. Pat fell over backwards, his feet coming up to catch Ben in the ribs. The forward momentum sent Ben flying over the edge of the mini island. Pat went to see if he had hurt himself, but froze when he looked over the edge.

Ben was floating out in the middle of the sea. A sea of Darkness.

The purplish ooze began to swell into a huge wave, barreling down on the island. Pat turned and ran towards the mainland, shouting for everyone to get to high ground. Most were already there, but at the end of the boardwalk, he met some who hadn't heeded his warning.

Rain, Kard, Ray, Ren, and Chris were all waiting for him. They had teamed up when they realized both he and Ben were missing. Now, they realized that they wouldn't make it back to the fort by the time the wave hit. Making a split decision, they all ran into the Secret Place.


	4. The Keymaster's Nobody

A/N:Now would be a good time to introduce the crew, as I won't have time to do it later

**Chapter 4- The Keymaster's Nobody**

A/N:Now would be a good time to introduce the crew, as I won't have time to do it later. Too much action and I won't be able to pencil it in. A lot is just boring back-story, so you can skip it if you want. However, if you come to something you don't understand later on in the story, this will be here for reference.

First there's Pat, with his semi-Roxas/ Sora Hair. I believe I've described him already, but this is just to neaten things up. He has eyes like the clouds before the storm, with turmoil hidden in them, but also peace. He was the Second of Auron's "Prodigal Three."

Then there's Rain. She has black hair and emerald eyes. Her hair cascades around her down to the small of her back. If you look closely, you can see streaks of red shining through it. She hated her original red hair, so she dyed it black. She was the Third of Auron's "Prodigal Three."

Chris was the calm one. His large size and powerful build didn't betray his inner nature, but his golden eyes did. They were more feline than, well, human. He spoke quietly, more or less muttering to himself, but everyone understood him perfectly. In school, he was the only one to beat the "Prodigal Three." The Gap between him and Ben who was second in the class was about the same as from Ray who was in fifth to the sixth ranked kid. Super smart and with a flair for strategy, he rarely rushes in without assessing the situation. Which he can do in about 4.3 seconds I might add.

Kard was, well, a wild card. Jet-Black Hair framed her face, and her fiery blue eyes blazed under her bangs. She was VERY moody and would be one thing one day and another thing the next. One day, she could be a prep school Barbie with all of the boy's fawning over her (Well, except for Pat) and the next she'd be the Gothic Girl. All black with Tattoos that looked SO real but by the next day would be gone again. Her parents owned a LOT of money. She was best friends with Rain, which everyone else always found as an odd match, but it gave the gossipers of the school something to mull over in their dim-witted skulls. Lord knows they would rather try to figure out the two girls relationship than do their homework. Naw, they'll just copy off someone else the next day. Back to Kard, she had a thing for Pat. I might have mentioned above that he wasn't interested, but she didn't seem to have learned the word N-O. I do believe their was one occasion after she asked him to go to a school dance with her that he told her to look it up in a dictionary. According to recent reports, I HIGHLY doubt it.

Ray is fun-loving and happy go lucky. He doesn't worry, is always optimistic. Favorite pastime? You bet. Annoying the hell out of the others so they want to throw him off the nearest skyscraper. All in good fun, of course. He's the shortest of the crew, and is the youngest of them. He skipped a grade which is why he's in high school. Pat always says to Chris that smarts must just run in their family.

Ren is the quietest of them all. Rain and Kard are always trying to get her to talk. But she just hides beneath her brown bangs and listens. And learns. She has an amazing memory, and one can get lost staring into her deep brown eyes. They show not just knowledge, but wisdom. She had a crush on Chris, but that was a while back.

I'm not going to reveal too much on Ben just yet.

And here are two coming up:

Leah J. Seraphiel. She was given that last name by the scientists who molded her into what she is: a half human, half angel. This was done using DNA taken from Sephiroth. Sephiroth found the lab, and he destroyed it in one of those mad rages he's famous for, almost killing the infant Leah in the process. Snapping out of it, he felt sympathy for her condition and took her with him. He trained her incessantly until she was nine. They were in Traverse Town at the time when he felt someone other than him going through the supposedly impassable world border. That was where he fought Cloud in front of Leah. After that battle, she was on her own. When Gummi travel was capable again, Traverse Town was almost overrun by Heartless and other creatures. Coming to the rescue, three figures dressed in Organization Cloaks appeared and asked Leah to take their ship and leave. The strange talking animals remained behind to fight. Why her presence seemed to be attracting Heartless is unclear.

And I do believe that you know my first Cannon character already. I'll give you a hint- ...No I won't actually, the title says it all.

Roxasdouble9 or Twilitsomeone

--

Ben found himself in the dream world, yet again.

He grinned as the boy he had fought before walked towards him. He followed the direction of the out raised hand, where a portal of darkness awaited. "Thanks friend," He said," And you can have this back," he threw Soul Eater. Riku caught it without even looking.

As Ben went through the portal, he looked back. Was he imagining it? No, there was the one Riku, standing there with Soul Eater in his hand. But behind him, there was an older boy, with the Keyblade Way to Dawn, poised as if to strike the real Riku down. Ben blinked, and the apparition vanished. Unnerved, he walked through the gate.

--

The friends ran into the Secret place, pursued by a ton of heartless. They skidded to a halt as the door which no one had ever seen opened before them. More heartless poured out of it. Trapped, they backed into each other.

"Now this isn't very good odds," Chris muttered.

Kard replied vehemently, "Shut up Chris!" She charged into the darkness suddenly, a Black and Gold Keyblade forming in her hand. She didn't look half as surprised at her impromptu weapon as Pat had, but then again, the world was pretty much falling to pieces. There would be time to try to find a reason for Randomly Materializing Weapons later. If there was a later. At the amount of Heartless surrounding them, "later" was looking to encompass pretty much the next few minutes, and the future after that? Well, let's just say no one was betting who would eventually win.

"Let's do this!" Ray shouted, plunging into the Heartless as well. A sickle shaped Keyblade formed in his hand.

One by one, the others drew their own Keyblades and leaped into the fray. Except for Pat. He tried to make the Keyblade from before appear, but it wouldn't work. He couldn't understand. That Heartless bit him and scratched him, while he tried futilely to make his Keyblade appear.

He was crying from his wounds now, and the darkness surrounding his vision. Where were the others? Why weren't they helping him?

As he drifted into unconsciousness, he heard the voice again.

_Courage comes from a pure heart._

FLASH

Pat opened his eyes to find himself away from the Secret Place. His friends were gone. His world was gone. Everything was white for a moment before his surroundings appeared, and he found himself holding a Keyblade.

The Lionheart.

"Whoa..." he whispered. He then noticed his new surroundings. He was in a hallway made of purple... blocks? Anyway, down the hallway came a mass of creatures he had never seen before. They looked like Heartless, but their symbols were different. Almost a cross between a heartless symbol and a nobody symbol.

His friends didn't even come to mind. There would be time to ponder later. Now it was time to fight.

"Yeah!" He cried, plunging into them with ferocity. He struck and blocked, flipped and ducked. Yet they came on by the hundreds. He felt so good slicing through them, even though the process was tiring himself out tremendously.

"Strike Raid!" He called, flinging his Keyblade, destroying a good number of enemies. When it came back to him, he broke and ran.

_Left, _The voice said, as he came to an intersection. Pat ran down the left hand corridor, the wave of enemies carrying after him. He passed a few portholes and when he glanced at them, he saw the strangest thing. A world being consumed by darkness, and beyond that:

Stars.

He kept following the voice's directions until it finally said, _Now down._ While he was wondering what that meant, he suddenly tripped and fell down a circular shaft. The Strange beings fell after him. Pat got his feet under him and began _running_ down the duct, barely keeping ahead of the horde behind him.

"Any ideas how to land??" He yelled at the voice over the roar of adrenaline.

_Yes, let her catch you._

"Let who- ack!" He cried, as the shaft ended and he found himself in free-fall towards some sort of hangar floor. He'd had the breath crushed out of him as a girl had bolted out of nowhere, catching him by his middle. They were still falling pretty fast however, but she used her one... wing?... to stabilize their descent.

She dropped him from about ten feet, and Pat ducked and rolled. He came up in time to see the horde of creatures blast out of the air duct.

_I'd run if I were you_. The voice suggested.

"Shut up!" They both said at the same time.

Giving each other weird looks for apparently talking to midair, they ran to the nearest passageway and bolted down. The creatures kept following.

"You sure know how to tick off Souless don't you," The girl asked between ragged breaths. The directions from the voice were getting faster, and it was all they could do to not take a wrong turn.

"Yeah, though I have no freakin' clue to why," Pat huffed, "I'm Pat, and you?"

"Leah," She replied, running along the passageway, "Leah J. Seraphiel." She spun around and threw three glowing cards down the passageway.

"Don't look back," she warned.

BOOM!!

"Light cards, create booms of pure light for ten minutes," She winked at his questioning glance, "Creatures of Darkness simply hate them. I was lucky to have a few, but those were my last ones."

"Got it," Pat muttered, turning down another hallway, putting as much distance between him and those 'Souless.'"

_Here._ They stopped before an immense white door. On it was the Nobody symbol, and around the edges were strange pictures. ((A/N: Supply pictures from KH I & II. Use your imagination.)) Tentatively, Leah opened it by pulling on the huge handle.

Inside, it was dazzling white. The room was enormous and circular, and only occupied by one thing. A capsule in the center, based on the shape of a flower bloom. Inside, a person slept.

Leah drew a Keyblade, but Pat was no longer shocked by the many people who seemed to have them. He drew his, and together, they unlocked the Capsule. Stars and Sparks flew around the room, growing into a crescendo of sound and light. Pat and Leah covered their eyes and ears as the roar grew deafening. The floor seemed to spin, and then finally, all was still.

The Boy stepped out. He was blond, with blue eyes. His black and white pants matched his shirt and vest, and he had a matching wristband and finger bands to accompany the get-up as well.

"Well thank you, my friends, staying cooped in that capsule for a thousand years was as boring as all hell," Roxas told them with a smirk.


	5. The Nobody's Tale Part 1

I suddenly realized I never did a disclaimer

I suddenly realized I never did a disclaimer. Sorry all!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts Nor anything in it, though I wish I did. Starlightseraph owns Leah, Hexla, and Shady and Felix, and I might include Helifadsyx too, though his name is a terror to spell. Xergg owns all of the Thomas Family and their nobody(s), The City of Rambosa (or Starlight City, as it is called here), Ravu, Tami, though my idea of Souless is a little different than his, and I spell it differently. I own few Keyblades, but it would be a terror to point out which. Just say that all ones that appeared previously in KH I, II, and COM are not mine. All the others except those belonging to charcters by the two Writers above are mine. Oh, and the one belonging to Nexius isn't as well, as Nexius Belongs to Shigure-Haven.

Leah, Pat and Roxas all stared at one another for a moment. ((Not descriptive enough? How about this: Leah glared, Pat stared slack jawed, and Roxas stood there with a smirk on his face.))

Leah broke the silence, "What do you mean, a thousand years?"

Roxas sighed, he ran a hand through his naturally spiky blond hair, "I mean, I was put in that capsule 1,000 years ago. Now," He pointed at himself for annunciation," I'm back. It's no picnic, let me tell you. The Dreams, well, I haven't had dreams like those since Twilight Town."

"Dreams," Pat said, his brow furrowing.

"Yes," Roxas agreed, "Dreams about you, and all the other descendants."

Leah was now thoroughly confused, "Descendants? How can both of us be descendants? We come from different worlds! And who would our common ancestor be?" A look of shock and a little bit of revulsion at the misty smile on Roxas' face, she practically shouted, "YOU?!"

"Hm?" Pat looked at her quizzically.

"You're so close one could say that is true," He whispered, "Sit down, and stay a while. I owe you, my rescuers, the full story," He then seemed to reconsider as he began to sit down and laughed, landing on the floor with a thud, "Or at least my story. If I told my Story and all the Stories up until your story, we'd never leave this room alive."

"Pardon me..." Pat muttered nervously.

The brown haired girl could have been hearing a summers breeze for all that she paid attention, "Yeah? Well, I gotta story of my own, and I can say it in four little words." She held up four fingers mockingly and lowered one for each word. "I am outta here!" She spun and walked back to the door. She grabbed the handle and pulled. And the doors didn't seem to open, surprise, surprise. Not for lack of trying though. She dug her heels into the ground and pulled with all her might. No joy.

"A-hem," A voice coughed behind her. Leah turned around to fix Roxas with an evil glare.

Obliviously, he made pushing motions with his hands, and smiled that bedamned smile of his.

Leah groaned in exasperation and pushed the door open. It rolled out smoothly on its hinges and Leah took one last look at Roxas and Pat before walking straight into a jumping Shadow. It pinged against an invisible barrier between it and the room, seemingly at the center of the door jam.

She backed up silently and sat down, seething. All her anger right now focused on Roxas.

Roxas gave one of those unnerving laughs again. He acted ten times older than he actually looked. The 15 year old face was off set by the unnatural wisdom in his eyes. Where Ren had given the appearance of being deeply knowledgeable, Roxas radiated it like sunlight. He practically glowed with happiness of being free. "They can't get in," he chuckled, "Just like in Kingdom Hearts, at least the light one. No matter how hard the darkness wraps around the light and tries to suffocate it, it just doesn't work."

Pat started again, "Excuse me, Mr. Roxas-"

He laughed, "Roxas will be just fine Pat."

"Okay, Roxas, are you THE Roxas? The one who was Sora's nobody? Namine's friend? Roxas of Twilight Town?"

"It seems you know alot about me already-" Roxas began, but Leah intervened,

"Wait, THE Sora!?" She mocked, "The one who supposedly defeated Sephiroth? I was told that as a Keymaster, Sora was one of the greatest fighters in all the worlds!" She looked incredulous. Leah had thought that Sora was a fairy tale to conquer a child's fears. The fact that these bozos knew of it and seemed to confirm it did NOT please her one whit.

"Now," Roxas ignored her, "Where was I? Oh yes, well I guess I had better start with the first adventure then, but I'm sure you no most of it. One night on Destiny Islands..."

--

An hour later, Leah and Pat sat in stunned silence, but not for the same reason. Leah was amazed at how beautiful and childlike the story was. Pat on the other hand...

"What happened next?" Leah asked with fake excitement. At 16, she was a year older than Pat and the others, and at her age the story bored her practically to tears. "Do the good fairy's come and take them all to utopia where everything is good and happy?" The beginning had been bland, and all the exciting stuff at the end had been meted out. Sephiroth told it much better.

"Well, Sora and his friends began their search for the King and Riku," Roxas ignored her, something she felt was becoming a habit, "And they came to a place called Castle Oblivion..."

Pat wasn't focusing on the story anymore. He was thinking far, far back into the depths of memory. Of three little kids and their greatest teacher.

--

FLASHBACK:

"Mr. Auros?" One of the two boys asked tentatively.

"Auron." The man with the Sunglasses corrected.

"Um, yeah, that's what I said right? Auran!" Ben giggled.

Auron sighed and kept walking down the crowded street, using his one good arm to navigate through the crowd. Three small kids tagged along at his feet, trying to keep up and not be swept away with the crowd. The girl and one of the Boys had black hair, the other boy had a mix of Blond and Brown.

"Where're we going?"

"To see someone," Auron said impassively.

"Oh," Rain said kind of pointlessly, "Who?"

"A man," he said walking into a building. "Who's name is..." He opened a door. Inside it were two figures, one a Man with Silver Hair and the other a girl with Brown Hair and a single WING like a bird. The kids mouth's dropped in shock as Auron completed his sentence, "Sephiroth."

END FLASHBCK

Pat realized this, but kept his revelations to himself. She was the girl they had met. But if Sora had lived a thousand years ago, would that make Sephiroth immortal? He was so confused, but didn't want to reveal all his secrets just yet.

Meanwhile, Roxas finished up with his story of COM and continued onto KH II. Both Leah and Pat had to admit it was the best yet, but still, they were almost bored out of their skins.

Pat interrupted as he drew to the close, "This story is all nice and good, but what exactly does it have to do with US?"

Roxas blinked in surprise, now very much looking like a 16 year old. "Well, um. It might have to do with it, but the main part I wanted you to listen to is coming up."

"So we just listened to all that for NOTHING?!" Leah screamed with Rage.

"No, you needed to have the back story." Roxas put up his hands defensively, as Leah looked like she wanted to change jobs from being a Keyblader to an Ax-Murderer.

"But we do know that story!!" Pat cried with anguish.

"Oh," Roxas stated looking kind of puzzled.

Leah erupted, standing. "Oh, you stupid, insufferable, idiotic..." She continued on and on, throwing in a swear word hear or there, making Roxas stand and move around the pedestal for defense. She followed him, still ranting, and they went around three times before Pat finally threw in another flame to the already roaring blaze of temper.

"Well I'm no longer bored!"

Next time she saw a brick, Leah made a promise to herself to smash both boy's heads in.  
--

When everything calmed down, Roxas continued his story. He skipped the Chaser Wars for some odd reason, shuddering to think what had happened then, but then he went on, almost sobbing as he spoke the next part.

"After what happened with the Chasers, I won't say what, but it was the first time we had lost more than we gained, the Light and Dark sides were connected. Then the Souless came through to devour worse than the Heartless and Nobodies combined. That was when Riku died… He trailed off, trying to find the strength to continue.


	6. The Tale of a Nobody Part Two

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts Nor anything in it, though I wish I did

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts Nor anything in it, though I wish I did. Starlightseraph owns Leah, Hexla, and Shady and Felix, and I might include Helifadsyx too, though his name is a terror to spell. Xergg owns all of the Thomas Family and their nobody(s), The City of Rambosa (or Starlight City, as it is called here), Ravu, Tami, though my idea of Souless is a little different than his, and I spell it differently. I own few Keyblades, but it would be a terror to point out which. Just say that all ones that appeared previously in KH I, II, and COM are not mine. All the others except those belonging to charcters by the two Writers above are mine. Oh, and the one named Nexius isn't as well, as Nexius Belongs to Shigure-Haven.

--

After hearing those words, the rest of the story went down hill. Riku, age 25, died, leaving his son and daughter to be raised by Sora and Kairi, already overburdened by their four children. Riku's wife had died in childbirth to the twins, and Roxas said that the names of the dead not relevant to conversation should not be dragged up.

With the sacrifice of Riku for his freinds and home, the terror of the Soulless was believed stopped, but in reality it was only halted. 2 years later, they attacked again, this time in full force. Sora, seeing the mingling of worlds and the swelling of auras drawing the Soulless out of the Realm of Darkness, the Darkness even deeper than that of the Orginization or Xehanort, decided to sever the chains binding them to each other. Sacrificing his life, he separated the worlds with barriers not even a gummi ship could cross, and only those adept like Sephiroth and others with Warp Engine Gummi's could pass. Thus were the borders preserved.

Kairi searched for Sora for many years, until finally her supreme power over light began failing to breach the border. Only two of her children came with her, leaving four descendants of the Three Keybladers on Destiny Islands, and the other two in the Star's. The two Star Fallen were known of by Roxas, and he said he knew where they were, but of Kairi and Namine he had no idea. They had vanished, just as he had, into the Dark Realms looking for Sora, never to return.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Pat exclaimed, putting his hands up and stopping the tale. "If you never returned, why are you here now?"

_"I bound him there..."_

"Roxas," Leah was beginning to get exasperated again. "Stop with the silly voice in our minds trick."

"What?" Roxas asked, confused.

"You don't know?" Pat asked him.

"Know what?" Roxas' puzzled face told the two all they needed to know.

Pat and Leah looked at each other, both feeling very, very confused. They had thought Roxas was the voice in their heads, but if he wasn't... who was?

--

On the bridge, a cloaked man sat in the captains chair with Soulless scurrying all around him, using the controls especially designed for them. The man leafed through one more page in a small book then looked up. "Are we ready?" His gruff voice asked the crew.

Two Soulless snapped to attention and jabbered at him in their strange language. He tossed the book aside and ordered, "Start the engines then, and prepare an invert warp to the Realms of Darkness in ten minutes. Oh, and belay the alarms. Wherever they are, we don't want our guests leaving too soon." Under his hood, he smiled a chilling grin.

--

Roxas put a hand to his ear and listened to it. He then looked at Leah and Pat again while getting to his feet. "We have to leave, now. Shady says that they're preparing to invert, and right now, you aren't ready for being thrown into the chaos of the Dark Realms."

"You can speak to Shady?" Leah asked, just as Pat said, "Who's Shady?"

"Yes to the first and no more questions to the second." Roxas raised a hand and summoned a portal of light and dark swirls. "This will take us as close to the hangar as possible. We'll fight our way to Leah's ship. Shady already has it prepped for us. In you go."

First Leah, then Pat, then Roxas entered the portal. Pat thought it felt like you were on the quickest roller coaster in the world, one that scrambled your entire body and then put it back together. When it was over, he realized he was on the ceiling of a hallway. They all were.

BAM!

Roxas got up first and dusted himself off. "Sorry guys, outta practice. I forgot to factor in gravity." The two just glared at him as they got to their feet.

Pat threw in another question as they began their race to the hangar, "If Sora was Twenty-Six when he died, why do you still look like a fifteen year old? Maybe sixteen."

Roxas shrugged, a hard task while running, "Nobodies don't age like you do." For once, Pat left it at that.

They were two corridors away when they met serious resistance. The whole hallway ahead was filled to the brim with enemies, and they were cutting off the ability to turn back. Pat drew Lionheart and Sleeping Lion as he saw Leah draw One Winged Angel (KH: COM Version). Roxas drew Oblivion and Oathkeeper.

Pat grinned at him. "Guess this is where we find out whether you've lost your edge or not!"

In reply, Roxas charged forward, jumping off walls and executing a flurry of kicks and slashes to keep the way ahead clear.

Leah smirked, and whispered, "Doesn't look like it." Then the Soulless were upon them.

Pat's first real battle with the Soulless went by in a blur. In actuality, it took about 30 minutes, but it felt like twenty seconds to him. His blades were in constant motion, dicing air and foe alike. There was a time he vaguely remembered fighting back to back with Leah, though both were unaccustomed to fighting solo and nearly took each others heads off more than once or twice.

Finally, they reached the end of the long hallway, and with more Soulless coming from behind, they ran. The next hallway was uneventful, but when they reached the hangar, they found the bay doors closing. Leah's ship, _Protector_, was already halfway off the ground, Shady at the helm.

Jumping in quickly, Roxas leapt into the pilots seat, much to Leah's distaste, and blasted the door to oblivion. With that, they jumped out of the hangar and headed for the star's, the Soulless ship vanishing into a black vortex in their wake.


	7. Twisted Fates

**Chapter 7: Twisted Fates**

RD9: A.K.A. Whoever runs the worlds has a weird sense of humor. Oh yeah, that's me...

RD9: Call me Skye, btw. Short Chapter, sorry all. Don't ask why I called this Twisted Fates. I suppose it's for the few ironic revelations. Oh well, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts Nor anything in it, though I wish I did. Starlightseraph owns Leah, Hexla, and Shady and Felix, and I might include Helifadsyx too, though his name is a terror to spell. Xergg owns all of the Thomas Family and their nobody(s), The City of Rambosa (or Starlight City, as it is called here), Ravu, Tami, though my idea of Souless is a little different than his, and I spell it differently. I own few Keyblades, but it would be a terror to point out which. Just say that all ones that appeared previously in KH I, II, and COM are not mine. All the others except those belonging to charcters by the two Writers above are mine. Oh, and the one named Nexius isn't as well, as Nexius Belongs to Shigure-Haven.

--

Roxas set the ship on autopilot and put Pat in the Pilot's seat. He couldn't do anything, but it made him happy anyway. Meanwhile, Roxas took Leah to the back of the ship where Pat couldn't hear.

"Alright," Leah sighed. "What do you want now. Just an FYI, I don't date guys who are a thousand years old, no matter how young they look."

"I'll take that as the closest thing you've given me to a compliment so far." Roxas smiled.

"Damn straight," Leah replied. "So cut to the chase. I don't want to leave Pat up there for any length of extended time. I haven't known him for that long, but I doubt he's any better than Nexy at driving a ship."

Roxas looked interested, and asked in a tone to imply common boredom, "And who's this 'Nexy?'" He asked.

"Nexius," Leah muttered itterably. "and he, and he..." She trailed off. "Who is Nexius?"

Roxas grinned at Leah in a way that infuriated her, "That's what you were about to tell me."

"But I don't know a Nexius. I've never met him before. How did I know he sucks at flying ships, at least in a way that doesn't want to make you throw up, his nickname which he hates, and his full name too? How can I know someone I don't know?" She asked confused by every passing second.

"Premonition is a wonderful thing," The grinning face mocked. Roxas waved it all away with a single hand. "But now, on to Pat."

Leah froze for a second before answering, "What do you mean, I can go kick him out of the chair?"

"You recognized him, of course."

"He was with Auron in that meeting."

"I meant the part that Sephiroth told you about AFTER the meeting was over."

Leah stared at the floor and shifted uncomfortably, "Yea..." She whispered.

"Then you know he's your...?"

"Yes!" She yelled, louder than she meant to. Both Pat and Shady looked back puzzeled for a second and then went back to "driving" the ship on autopilot.

"I meant," Leah treid to calm down. "I know who he is. I was happy I wasn't alone, but I didn't really think I'd ever see him again. He doesn't know?"

"No, and it's better that way. It'll be hard for him when you leave enough, even without him knowing the truth. I want him whole and strong for his mentor."

"And who's that?"

"You'll be gone before then," Roxas supplied.

"Why do I have to leave? We only just met," She normally didn't whine, but the situation seemed just a tad unfair to her.

Roxas turned away, and began walking back towards Pat, "Don't you want to see your freinds for the first time?" He left her with that.

Leah stared at her hands. _Nexius._ That word sprang about in her mind. and then _Skye, Starre, Helifasdyx. Greg. _Countless names sprang from her head, ending with one. _Rambosa, the City of Starlight_.

_That's where I have to go voice?_ She asked silently. _And leave these two behind?_

_Yes... for now._

_What are we waiting for then, Voice? _Leah asked, smiling grimly, _Bring it on!_

She then walked forward, back to the cockpit, her heart burning with resolve to make this time with her brother last.

--

A few hours later, they reached their destination. Roxas began powering down the ship as the coasted into the Mansions Courtyard.

Roxas opened the hatch, and they all got out.

"Welcome," A man with brown hair stood at the gate. He was tall, and a blade with resemblance to a gun rested on his left hip. "My name is Leon. You must be Sora's descendants. Welcome to Twilight Town."


	8. A Dark Light

**Chapter 8: A Dark Light Makes for a Deep Night**

**Skye/RD9:** Sorry I haven't been on in a while folks. School and all that. Hopefully now, I'll become more regular and frequent, but no promises! Just like always. Have a fun read!

--

"This is too confusing!" Pat cried, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Run it by me again… please."

Everyone let out a deep sigh. It was their third explanation and they were all getting tired with Pat's slowness.

Leon began again, "Pat, c'mon, pay attention. I'll run it one more time, but then someone else has to take a turn playing "teacher." The reason we look almost exactly the same, the TRUE reason why we haven't aged at all, is because of what Sora did."

"Right, I get that part…" Pat propped his head on his elbow, still a bit dazzled by Namine's brilliant white room. "What did he do again?"

Leah rolled her eyes, tired of his ignorance, and made the decision to flip him out of his chair with a well directed foot sweep. She then kicked him hard in the ribs for good measure, "Pay attention dork."

"Oww," He whined, but when he got back up, he was the perfect listener.

Leon put his hand to his brow and muttered something under his breath, then continued, "Sora sacrificed his heart to Kingdom Hearts to strengthen the world borders. Interplanetary travel became impossible, forbidding the Heartless entry by a process of time displacement. You were trapped on whatever world you were left on."

"Except, of course, a select few such as Cloud, Sephiroth, Kairi, and Leah," Yuffie added.

Irritated by her interruption, Leon gave Yuffie a quick glare of rebuke. She smiled apologetically and motioned for him to continue.

"The worlds, now separated, began to run on different time zones. In your world, 1000 years passed by, while in Twilight town, it's only been a month since we saw Sora last, and he was still young then. Our worlds were already deviating by the time he made the ultimate sacrifice." Leon sat back in his chair and folded his arms, satisfied.

Tidus picked up the tale from there, "We were all stranded on this world, and now that we've heard your story and how our parents and friends are all gone from our old home, I think I speak for the three of us when I say we'll go to school here with Hayner and his gang when it starts up again." Wakka and Selphie nodded in agreement. "Thanks to the age deviation, we're all in the same grade now!"

Pat frowned, "So what's happening now?"

"The border's breaking, both between the worlds and the realms of light and dark. Just like last time, I'm afraid," Aerith put in helpfully.

"What's the realm of Dark like then, if this is the realm of Light?" Leah asked thoughtfully.

"The exact opposite of here, as it always has been." A voice sounded from behind them. A man in a black Organization Cloak stood there. In a flash, Leon, Pat, and Leah all had their blades at the stranger's throat.

"That's certainly quite a welcome," he chuckled, "Though I thought YOU would remember me at least Pat."

That's when he threw back his hood, and Pat nearly dropped his Keyblade in surprise. He exclaimed, "Chis!"

"Yup," The older boy said, "It took me forever and a half to find you through the quagmire made by the Soulless on your tail. You're not an easy guy to track. Who're your new friends?" He looked at Leah, and grinned wolfishly, "I see you've already replaced Rain?"

Pat blushed and muttered "shuddup" under his breath while Leon lowered his blade. Leah was not so forgiving, however, and while she saw that the new person was a friend, she still wanted to bring the hurt to someone.

Pat was standing beside her, looking at his friend, realizing how much he had missed him and how much he missed the others for the first time in days. It was a picture perfect moment for he was happier than he'd been in a while... and then he was flying out the balcony window missing Roxas by inches.

"Whoops," Leah said sheepishly, "I missed, I wanted him to hit Roxas too."

Chris laughed, liking this new crowd already, even though he took a subconscious step away from Leah and her temper. Everyone else joined in, except for Roxas, who didn't see what was so funny.

--

After Pat had come back inside (grumbling all the way) the thirteen of them sat down again. (Pat, Leah, Chris, Roxas, Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, Selphie, Olette, Pence, Wakka, Hayner, and Tidus.) Chris began to tell his story.

"After the attack on the island, I wandered in darkness for what seemed a long time. It must not have been, because you haven't been going for over a week, and it felt like years to me." He brushed a piece of hair out of his eyes. "Now, when I woke, I was on a plain of Darkness, with the sky roiling above me, and no stars to be seen. Even at night, it isn't that black. Blacker than death almost, if such a thing is possible."

Now, while being here, I moved slowly, as if I was underwater, but I wasn't alone on the plain. Ghosts and shadows flitted by me as if in a current. Most had no faces, but some did, and, get this, I even KNEW two of them."

"Really?" Pat asked, eager, "Who?"

"Ben and Kard," Chris replied somberly. "I don't know how they got their, but they didn't even seem interested in me. They didn't respond when I shouted, but just moved closer and closer to the sphere that had appeared behind me. It was strange, and didn't make sense, like a dream, almost, but there's something that happened after that which convinced me it wasn't a dream."

"What was that?" Leah asked, genuinely puzzled how he could KNOW it wasn't a dream. The darkness always made it hard to determine what was real and what wasn't.

Chris looked at her, somberly, "Your name. Leah if I'm not correct?"

She took a step back warily, "How'd you know my name? I'm pretty sure we haven't been introduced yet."

He laughed at her surprise, "I heard it before I came in while watching through the window." He gestured to the broken hole where Pat had been tossed out. "But I heard it in the dream too. A boy came running up to me near the end of it. It looked as if he had come out of thin air. But he-"

Leah cut him off with, "Was wearing the Cloak you whear now. He had spiky black hair and his name was Xergg. He told you my name." She was pale and hardly breathing, but she affixed Chris with a monster stare. "And then they came… the Knights…"

"Yes!" Chris exclaimed, realizing she had had the same dream once. "They're in this weird sort of armor, and are always clamoring about "the prince" this and "the prince" that and somewhere called Rambosa!"

While Chris was elated, Leah felt her destiny closing in. The overbearing weight of it oppressed itself on her chest. Leah looked at Roxas and received her worst fear brought to life. He nodded, and then walked over to the broken window and looked to the sky. It reminded her of one of the other names she had heard before, and she began feeling dizzy. The room blacked out around her, and she fell to the floor.

Many things then happened at once. Pat and the others rushed to the comatose Leah. While they were doing that, Roxas kept muttering under his breath, "Here they come, here they come, here they come…"

Leon looked up from Leah after making sure she was okay, having only fainted, at the Windows occupant. He walked over to Roxas warily at first, and then in wonder as the spectacle outside unfolded. For the first time in its history, night fell on Twilight Town as the Soulless ship eclipsed the sun.

--

**In Space**

The Soulless commander watched as the dark shadow from his ship covered all of Twilight Town. _The Last Divider_ was the ultimate warship, being right off the line and able to carry thousands of gummi ships. This one wasn't as heavily equipped as it could be, as it was only an acquisition mission for this girl from the realm of Light. Her witchery had caused the High Prince of Rambosa to throw his Kingdom into Civil War. The visions of her and the "true Heart" had driven him beyond madness, where reasoning was of no use. Whenever the Knights tried to bring him in peacefully, he rebelled with his bands of followers and disrupted the nearby populace. Chaos was acceptable on most worlds in the Realm of Darkness, but on Rambosa, a prime staging ground for the Soulless and Heartless armies, anything below absolute order was unacceptable. It ruined production, and the cultivation of the Heart and Soul Fields.

He clenched a fist, and gave the order to broadcast the ultimatum to Twilight Town. If they gave in peacefully, he was supposed to bring her back for a mass execution. If not, he had permission to destroy this world, and any other she might flee too. He hoped she would flee, so he could test his Destroyer's World Breaker Cannon's. He could picture the medals he would receive if he returned after laying waste to the realm of light. He could destroy them all in a heartbeat.

He was sure of it.


	9. A New Farewell

**Chapter 9: A New Farewell**

Panic reigned in Twilight Town. Not surprising, as a death sentence had been issued for them if a girl from another world didn't give up and go quietly. Nevertheless, people ran around with large smiles on their faces. Who am I kidding? They were screaming so loud you could hear them in Disney Castle.

Said girl had woken up by then and was trying to find out what was going on.

"-butifwejustconnectthereandfendthem-"

"-Idon'tknowwherethebestplacetostrike-"

"-omfgwher'smymommy!?"

Okay, so maybe not that last one. It was a hectic thing, and with a girl who was feeling like she'd just come over having a friggin stroke, Leah did NOT need words flying around her at mach 4. She swore she could hear the sonic booms reverbrating inside her head every time a sentence broke the sound barrier.

"WOULD EVERYBODY PLEASE SHUT UP!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Everyone quieted immediately, and stared at her as if she was a walking dead person. Then the true torture began.

"-Leahyou'reawakeIcan'tbeleiveit-"

"omgLeahyoulikepassedoutrightthereonthefloorandlikewehadto-"

"LEEAAAHyou'realiveIcan'tbeleiveitwethoughtyou'ddied-"

She had to repeat the kind, uplifting words she'd said a few moments before to get them to calm down. And then SHE needed to slow down so she didn't blow up when someone breathed the wrong way.

"Okay," she breathed, "Okay. What major catastrophe has occurred while I was out?"

Cue the speaking all at once again.

She let them run out of steam, then asked Aerith, who so far seemed to be one of the calmest people in the room.

"The Soulless ship has asked for you to be sent up to them in less than one standard hour, or they will blow Twilight Town to smithereens," Aerith responded graciously.

"But can they really destroy a world?' Pat inquired.

Aerith frowned and shook her head, "I don't know… in the Realm of Light we don't have the ability to make gummi ships that big. Cid might know, but he's on the other side of Twilight Town, and we need to decide our course of action now."

"I have a plan," Roxas spoke from the corner of the room, and the way he said it made chills go up everyones spine.

"I'm not going to like it, am I?" Pat and Leah said together.

They were right.

--

"This is crazy," Leah said to the ceiling of the gummi ship for what must have been the thousandth time. "This is insane, suicidal, and absolutely loco."

Chris gave a wry smile to Pat, "She always like this?"

Pat rolled his eyes and nodded, "Though she still maintains the impression that…"

"She doesn't mean a word of it and means no disrespect to the person she is currently disrespecting?"

"Yup."

Roxas looked over from the pilot's seat and commented, "Give her a year or two… she'll mellow out." He then stared forward and focused on bringing the ship as silently as possible towards the Soulless Destroyer.

The silence on deck was choking them to death, so finally, Chris began to laugh and said, "If that isn't an ominous foreboding I don't know what is. What are you, a fortune teller? Get a life fortune cookie man!"

The tension broke, and they all laughed, well, all except for Leah, whose sense of dread grew like the ship in the view screen.

On a more somber note, Roxas went on, "Does everyone know the plan backwards and forwards?"

"Yeah," Chris agreed, "We get in, we kick Soulless butt, we disable the engines, we kick more Soulless butt, and then we fly away happy. Oh, and the ship blows up in a big ball of fire in flame like the worst atomic explosion in history."

Roxas sighed, "If only it were so easy…"

Pat laughed again, but his blood froze at Leah's next words.

"Where's Shady?"

--

Shady looked up from the forest, watching Leah and her new friends sail away towards their destiny. He had his own destiny to follow. He had been glad to be with Leah, as she made him feel almost human again, but it would be nothing like the real thing…

He stepped towards the Nobody in front of him. His nobody… Felix… and there was a flash of white light.

--

The boy looked at his new form. "What is this?" He asked petulantly. His shaggy black hair whooshed about his face as he tried to get a better look at himself. "I look like a baby."

"I believe the word is, 'child,'" A girl's voice came from the other side of the wood.

Shady/Felix turned around rapidly, watching as a Blonde haired girl came around a tree. She was staring upward, watching the receding spaceship fly out of eyesight.

"You've been given a gift," she turned to him and grinned, "I'd prefer it if you didn't waste it."

"You brought Feli- I mean me here?" Shady/Felix asked.

"I brought one chain into place, and he was interwoven with that chain, and it now interweaves you as well," The girl traced a bark seam on the biggest tree in the wood. Her finger followed its every curve, and a line of light filled the space it left behind. She smiled at him out of the corner of her eye, her hair framing her blue eyes beautifully, "Right Hexla?"

A girl stepped out from another side of the tree. She looked a lot like Leah, except for the different mode of dress and the wavy brown hair instead of straight. She flicked some out of her eye and grinned, saying, "Nice of you to finally have a body, Felix."

"So…" Felix/Shady directed his question at both of them, but he already knew who would answer. "I'm human now?"

"Decidedly not," the blond haired girl sighed, folding her hands together, "You actually have to have a heart to be human, and your Heartless rebelled because your heart went somewhere special. Now, Heartless and Nobodies will feel kin to you, but neither will be able to sense your true self unless you tell them. For the next part, you'll need to be nobody, like us."

"Us," Shady/Felix repeated hollowly, searching for the right combination.

"Us," The blond haired girl, Hexla, and a new boy stepping out of the portal said at the same time. Shady/Felix's eyes widened in shock, he had been with Leah long enough to be able to recognize the boy from her dreams, even if he was a little different that her description had been.

"Fine," He said, "But call me Helifasdyx from now on, we- I mean I, like it."

"Welcome, Helifasdyx," Namine smiled and took his arm, leading into the portal after the other two, "It's time we get this adventure truly underway."

The portal lingered for a moment but it then fizzled into nothingness.

Leon, leaning against a tree in the nearby shadows, allowed himself a small smile. Things were looking up.

--

Leah didn't have time to mourn Shady's loss. She wasn't cruel, and she undoubtedly would have cried and whimpered and tried to be alone if she had time. Unfortunately, they didn't have time. They hit the hanger exactly 4.2 seconds after she said that.

The craft rocked as they prepped themselves for the mess they were about to enter. Leah put on her stone face, while Pat jumped about. Chris twirled his Keys around and around, and Roxas was just still.

Calling the Kingdom Key to her other hand so she wouldn't be the only two handed Keyblader, Leah prepared to go in hot.

They went in hot, cold, and everything in between, and that includes the variances of mediums for tomato soup. The were set in stone. Except faster... (A/N: umm... which still doesn't tell anything, but yeah. Way Faster... totally...)

(A/N sorta continued...: Fine then) The battle was a mix of slashing, kicking, punching, bashing, twirling, using magicks, and, of course, utterly annihilation of the enemy.

A thousand Soulless had been in the Hanger when the ship had entered, gyrating crazily. A thousand, mean, emotionless machines designed for battle against four Keybladers and their wrath. You could almost feel sorry for them.

The floor was littered with bodies. Soulless took a while longer to disappear than heartless. Slowly fading out of existence rather than a gooey splish.

Chris yawned, "Boring."

Pat kicked one in the head, watching it pop off like a broken doll, "Completely."

Leah bent down and examined one, "True, I thought Soulless were supposed to be tough."

Pat nodded, "I hope the next batch are a bigger challenge."

"You want a challenge? Then why not take me on for size?" A familiar voice asked from behind them, "Or are you too afraid of the darkness?"

Pat, Chris, and Leah all whirled, while Roxas just sighed at the drama of it all and turned slowly to face their new adversary.

Flanked by two enormous Soulless, a boy their age leaned on his gigantic black Keyblade and smiled cockily at them.

"So who goes first?" Ben asked


End file.
